The perfect Harmony
by JayEff
Summary: After an uneasy confession Stan finds himself questioning his feelings for not only his girlfriend, but for his own private Beethoven. STYLE, SLASH, R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own South Park. Seriously.

**Authors Note**: I recommend searching youtube for "Yann Tiersen, Comptine d'un autre été, L'après midi". The Keywords "yann tiersen comptine" are enough. The first entry should be an animated old man playing the song. That one does nicely. It's the piece Kyle plays.

The second piece in the story is "Michael Nyman: The Heart asks Pleasure First", right before "Corpse Bride: Victor's Piano Solo". Those can be found on youtube, too. The best results are "The Sacrifice (Michael Nyman)" and "Victor's Piano Solo (w. ending of my own work)" (posted by a guy named warsteinertube)

(You can also find all the pieces I'm using in my youtube channel, where I play them, by the name of "JayEffW")

* * *

"Phew" Kyle sighed out as he finished the final chord of the new piano piece that he had been practicing. He was using the school's piano to practice for a week now, and for the first time, he had played the piece without any mistakes.

He prepared himself for his second attempt. This time he thought he should put a little more emotion into it.

He began with the left hand, timidly playing the theme that hand would be repeating throughout the whole piece. When the right hand started with the first melody theme, he played it gently the first time, adding more temperament in the second repetition. Kyle closed his eyes to enjoy the amazingly simple, yet beautiful second melodic theme. The theme started only audible at first and then became livelier when chords replaced the single notes.

When it came to the fast paced segment, he opened his eyes, concentrating on the right hand, smiling, pleased with himselfthat he was playing it without any problems. He took a small break, raising the tension, then the melody repeated itself one octave higher, which he played just as smoothly as before. He played the final chord of the piece with his eyes closed once again and let the harmony sound a good 15 seconds before he lifted the sustain pedal and let the chord die out.

He felt good about how the day was going so far. The project he was self-teaching was simple enough, as Kyle had found himself something akin to a prodigy when it came to the piano and he had managed it to obtain perfection within only a week, even though he hadn't played piano for more than two years.

When he left school, his mood sank a bit. The sky was ink black and a strong, cold wind forced him to close his eyes. Kyle found that the monster-wind was mandating the direction and force of icy needles and harsh rain that attacked him the moment he stepped out the door. He prepared himself, lowered his eyes and started running home.

Kyle thought he saw something bright in front of him, so he looked up, only to find it was nothing but a completely empty street. Then, after several seconds, he heard a distant thunder, sustaining even longer than his final chord that he had played just minutes ago. The deep, growling sound made him shiver, as he picked up speed, to get out of this soaking hell as fast as possible.

In between the watery scene in front of him, there was suddenly a dot of happier colors, and strangely enough, it seemed to wave and call his name... His mood changed once again, as he saw his friend Stan running towards him, smiling happily.

"Hey Kyle!" he yelled over the loud roaring of the storm. Stan spotted the flaming red of Kyle's hair through the grayish veil of rain when he was heading home. He had wanted to go on a date with Wendy, but the weather demanded they stay at Wendy's until they decided, there was no way that the weather would suggest they go out for ice cream any time soon.

"What are you doing out in this rain?" Stan inquired, seemingly completely unbothered by the terrible weather. "You're not a flower, you know? You don't exactly thrive in this kind of setting."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Well, what does it look like? I was heading home, idiot. By the way, it's closer than your house, and this weekend I'm completely alone. My parents are chaperoning on Ike's school trip. What do you say, you wanna sleep over?"

"I don't know – I wanted to take Wendy on a date this weekend but obviously the weather doesn't want me to." He continued with a slightly peeved voice "But if the weather doesn't get any better, I might as well stay with you." Stan smiled viciously. "I can't let you become jealous of Wendy, right?"

"Hey, you...!"

"Whoa!" Kyle had reached out for Stan with his fist and Stan jumped back, then started running. Kyle chased him until they reached the front door of Kyle's house, exhausted, their grinning faces sopping wet with hair and clothes plastered uncomfortable to them.

Inside, Kyle decided to change his clothes almost immediately, "Your clothes don't seem very dry either..."

Stan shrugged. "Yeah, well, what am I gonna do."

"I can't let you catch a cold. You'll have to take some of mine – or do you just want a blanket?" Kyle suggested.

"Both options sound equally gay to me. I'll go for the one where I'm not being gay for you." He grinned.

"The blanket, then." Kyle said, as he left the room to get said cover.

When he came back, Stan had gotten rid of most of his clothes: he was wearing only a T-shirt and his boxers.

"It's no good. The shirt's wet, too" he complained, as he pulledthe damp shirt over his head. Kyle admired the athletic body of his best friend. He could see what Wendy saw in him – Stan was not only stunningly handsome but also very strong.

He approached his friend slowly and placed a hand on his chest. "What ... K... Kyle?"

He ignored Stan's confusion and moved his hand towards the pink circle of nerves and then rested his lips against the other, pleased with the slight gasp he had forced his friend to make. He then moved his head to face Stan, grabbed the other boy's neck and slowly closed the gap between their lips ...

"What are you looking at, do I have a stab wound somewhere?" Stan asked jokingly as Kyle realized, he stared a bit too long at his friend.

_Whoa. What the hell was that?! Did I just have a daydream of me and Stan making out?!_

He shook his head. "I was .. ah, never mind, here you go." He handed Stan the blanket who made a thankful noise and told him,

"Good. I feel much better now. Hey, you haven't changed your clothes yet…"

"Yeah, I was gonna. Why don't you go ahead and heat up the console?" Kyle requested and left for his room.

When Kyle returned, he had two cups of hot cocoa in his hands. Stan was sitting on the couch, with the blanket wrapped around him, a Wii controller in his hand. His mouth spread into an eager grin when he saw the steaming cocoa, paused the game and threw the controller on the couch.

"That one's yours, Stan. It's got actual sugar in it." Kyle announced, as he gave one of the cups to Stan.

"We're playing Smash Bros. I take it?" Kyle sighed.

He knew he was about to get his ass kicked. The game was one of both Stan and Kyle's favorite, but Stan was simply better.

"Aw, poor little Ginger is afraid ... ? Don't you worry, I'll make it quick and painless." Stan teased while the last three words were in a harsh and deep voice, as if some undead monster was speaking right out of its tomb.

"You just wait, I'll show you." Kyle defended; he was always up for the challenge, although it was hopeless.

But it was not long until they switched to Guitar Hero III. After beating each others' scores for several hours, there was suddenly an incredibly bright flash of light and a loud, deafening thunder crack. At the same moment the TV went black and the only thing they could hear was the stormy rain beating against the windows.

"What the..." Stan begun, but stopped, looking around puzzled. Kyle went to the window and looked out at the street**, **spotting light in the neighbors' houses. "I guess the lightning blew a fuse..."

Stan frowned under his blanket. "I just hope the console is ok..."

"I think the fuse box is in the basement, somewhere..." Kyle shivered, inevitably resulting in a sneering comment of Stan about whether daywalkers were afraid in the dark. Kyle glared at Stan angrily by the insult Cartman had brought up back in the forth grade, but sighed when Stan smiled at him.

"You know, you're the coolest daywalker alive." He backed up, patting Kyle's shoulder. "Let's just take care of the power tomorrow. You know I'd never laugh at you."

Kyle patted Stan on the back thankfully. "What do you saywe light up that fireplace?"

Soon they had a nice, warming fire burning in the tiled fireplace with a glass door in the front protecting the surroundings from flying sparks and smoke. They sat in front of the fire and talked about everything that came to their minds such as characters from Smash Bros., the school, girls, and eventually Stan asked "Why haven't I ever heard of you dating some girl, you never even showed interest in anyone besides that ... what was her name again? Back in forth grade?"

Kyle shrugged "I dunno... I just don't see myself with any of the girls around me."

Stan grinned and joked "That's okay, Kyle, I have no problems with gays."

Kyle laughed but didn't answer. He was thinking about what Stan had said and wondered if those words were more truthful than either of them realized.

They didn't speak for a while; both just listening to the crackling of the fire and the drum solo the rain seemed to play against the windows. After a while Kyle felt tired and as he wanted to ask his friend if they should go to bed now, he felt Stan resting his head heavily against his shoulder, his eyes closed. "Stan ... ?" he whispered, blushing slightly. "Stan, are you sleeping?"

As his friend didn't react to his name, he looked back into the fire, unsure what he should do now. It felt good, having Stan so close to him he realized, but he wondered why his heart was beating so fast. He stared into the fire a while with his mind racing as quickly as his heart was beating. What was he so nervous about? He had been close to Stan frequently. Whenever Stan slept over at Kyle's, they didn't bother to get a futon into the room. There was simply no need for that kind of thing, since they would sleep together in one bed. So what was he nervous about right now? His eyes wandered towards Stan's unconscious body again. He slowly moved his arm around him and put his hand on Stan's side. He didn't know why, but he just felt plain happy about the situation. He turned his head back towards the fire and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth from both the fire and his friend. He imagined himself resting his cheek against Stan's head and blushed furiously from the thought...

"Stan ..."

_What are you doing, Kyle...?_

"Stan... I really can't carry you to the bed..."

_Kyle, why don't you enjoy this a little longer?? _

"Stan ... ?"

_So what if it's gay! _

"Uh.. oh.. did I fall asleep?"

_Good job, idiot._

When Stan lifted his head off Kyle's shoulder, he blushed, even though the golden light from the fire made it invisible. It made the charcoal haired boy look like a supreme being, completely made of the most precious metals, radiating some sort of holy light upon the mortal Kyle Broflovski, who was blessed with his presence... _God, he's cute..._ Kyle smiled. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sleepy, too. Let's go to bed."

When they were both in bed, Kyle turned around to face Stan. He was able to hear his friend breathing over the noise of thestorm, which had thankfully calmed down a bit since it blew the fuse. He looked at the back of Stan's head for a while, when Stan suddenly turned around in his sleep.

Kyle found himself staring at Stan's beautiful face and he just couldn't look away, didn't want to... Was he in love with his best friend? _Sure thing. _The answer came naturally to him, but Kyle didn't feel so bad about it. Somehow, he wasn't terrified by the realization; maybe it was Stan's face that kept him calm. That peaceful, perfect, beautiful face... it made him sleepy again. He slowly touched Stan's face with the back of his fingers, smiled and then fell back to sleep.

When Stan woke up the next morning, he found the bed empty beside him. There was nothing unusual about that, except Kyle would wake him up at 9:00 am if he wasn't up yet. But when he looked at the alarm clock beside Kyle's bed, it flashed 12:00 at him. He realized two things: The power was back on, and the alarm clock hasn't been set yet. He looked at his watch. 9:39.

_Kyle's a bit late, huh?_

He set Kyle's clock to the correct time and got up.

He went downstairs and found Kyle where he thought he would be; at the kitchen table, with a bowl of cereal in front of him, his head rested on the palm of his hand.

"Morning..."

Stan had never been a morning person. Stan stretched in a long yawn and took a bowl out of a shelf for himself, when, with a thud, Kyle's head fell into his bowl of cereal.

He looked at the hilarious scene for a good 5 seconds until he realized, Kyle wasn't about to take his head out of the bowl by himself. Adrenaline flushed his body as he rushed towards his friend to raise his head. Kyle's eyes were closed and his skin felt hot, when he put his hand on Kyle's cheek. His friend was clearly ill.

"Aw... shit ..." Stan sighed in relief, when he saw Kyle slowly opening his eyes.

"Kyle! Are you alright? How do you feel?"

"Why, splendid, can't you tell... ?" Kyle retorted.

"You're joking. Good. You're not about to die, then." Stan grinned at his best friend and hugged him closely.

"Stan ... You're right I'm not dying but you can change that if you want, just keep choking me..."

Stan broke away and blushed slightly. "Sorry. But you really had me worried, there. Let's get you back to bed, now."

Kyle agreed and Stan helped him to the bed. "Let's get your face clean, shall we?" he suggested and pointed at the milk and cereal which remained from Kyle's diving adventure in the wonderful world of nutritious breakfast.

He went into the bathroom and brought back a washcloth. Kyle felt the heat in his cheeks get stronger, when Stan cleaned up his face. He had put warm water on the cloth andbrought a towel to dry the water afterwards.

"Thanks..."

Stan smiled "Don't mention it. You'd do the same for me."

"I guess I should have changed into dry clothes faster... Sorry."

Stan looked up to Kyle. He was sitting on the ground with his back resting on the side of the bed. "For what?"

Kyle sighed. "I think I should sleep a bit longer... that's not how I had planned this weekend for you. It must be boring ..."

Stan got up and walked over to the book shelf. "Don't worry about it. I'll keep myself busy reading ..."

He moved his hand across the spines of some of the books, reading the author and title. "Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet?! Kyle, since when did you become a lame lovesick nerd?"

He shot a laugh over his shoulder and continued. "Patrick S.. s.. how the hell do you even pronounce that? Suskind? Soace-kiend ... whatever. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. That one sounds interesting..."

"It's about a mad genius, creating the perfect perfume ... It's really good, they even made a movie of it just recently, itshould be in the movies this month... Stan, what are you doing, you hate books."

Stan had opened the book and started reading. "That's not true! ...Yeah, well, a bit. But I can change! I can become a nerdy geek, too, just like you!" he said jokingly.

"If you really read more than 5 pages, I'll buy you a ticket for the movie." The fatigue in Kyle's voice was clearly audible.

"You just rest, I'll keep myself from getting bored somehow." Kyle smiled thankfully and closed his eyes, thinking about him and Stan in the movies, a dark room, practically alone since everyone's attention was directed to the movie, slowly drifting away into sleep.

When he woke up, he expected Stan to be playing some video game downstairs, but instead, he still sat at the same place, staring into the book. "Stan, am I asleep or are you actually still reading??"

Kyle looked from him to the clock and back again, unable to believe that it was already the afternoon, 5:21 pm to be precise. "What do you mean by still, I've just read like - "

He looked down to his watch, his eyes becoming saucers. Then, suddenly, realizing the time, he held the book as far away from him as possible.

"Holy shit! Those are addictive!" He laughed. "Are you feeling better, already?"

He got up and put his hand on Kyle's forehead making him blush slightly at the touch. Flabbergasted, Kyle didn't reply at once. "Your fever seems to have gotten better." Stan announced, removing his hand.

_Aww._

"What page are you on?"

Stan looked down on the book again. The little number on the bottom of the page read 79. "Just put some piece of paper into it as a bookmark and take the book with you when you leave."

Stan found a post-it and put it in.

"Handle with care! It's one of my favorites!"

Nodding positively, Stan took the book with both hands and carried it, slowly and ceremonially as if it was the Most Holy Book itself, downstairs where he put it down on a pillow on the couch.

Turning around, he found that Kyle had followed him, grinning at his exaggerated behavior. When he spotted Kyle, with his hair messy from the bed, still a bit sleepy but obviously happy, he couldn't help but smile as well. He felt strangely drawn towards Kyle and, on a whim, followed the urge to hug his friend.

"What.. " Kyle blushed furiously and slowly put his arms around the boy.

"Sorry, Kyle, I just felt like it." Stan laughed and broke away. "You're great."

Kyle grinned; the compliment hadn't helped to remove the red from his cheeks. "Well, so are you."

"Yeah, I know, I didn't mean you're greater than me, but you're pretty close." Kyle nodded with a smirk, knowing his friend wasn't narcissistic at all.

Suddenly, something started vibrating in Stan's pocket. When he reached for his phone and looked at the display, his smile froze. "Kyle, you'll probably hate me, now."

Smiling guiltily, he answered the call; "Hey, Wendy. ... Yeah, of course I thought of you, once the weather got better! I was just about to call you. ... Nah, not really. ... 6 sounds fine. ... Alright, see ya then!" He sighed after he puthis phone back into his pocket. "Kye ..."

_That Nickname... _

"Stan... I wouldn't be so fast and call it 'hate', but ..." Kyle glared at his supposedly best friend.

"I'm sorry Kye... I didn't expect this... But then again, we spent every weekend together since ... God, I don't even know..."

Kyle knew what was happening. Stan was 14 now, and the need of a best friend yielded to the need for a girlfriend. This was probably the last time, they would spend so much time together...

_Oh, shut up, Kyle, you'll never lose your friend to a girl, stop __getting so worked up._

"Kye. She can never replace you. You know that."

_He's reading my mind again... _

"I know. I'm just..." _jealous. _"... it's ok Stan. Have a good time. And don't forget the book!"

He stood in the door, until he couldn't see him anymore. He knew he wasn't gonna lose Stan. Then what was that frustrated thing in his throat, he just couldn't get rid of? He turned around to grab his jacket and checked if the key was still in his pocket.

"_Normally, we don't hand out those keys to students, but since you're such a responsible boy and it's because of your piano practice, we'll make this an exception." The principle had said. "You can use the piano whenever you like to, but there are others who practice here. First come, first serve!"_

He made sure the front door was shut and left for the school. _This weekend wasn't exactly what I had planned. First the __storm__, then my fever, and now Wendy. _He sighed. _At least there's some time to play piano._

But when he arrived at the front door of the school, he found it unlocked. He entered and went to the room with the piano, only to find it occupied. A fast-paced melody came out of the open door. He invited himself in and took a seat in the back, quietly, to make sure he wouldn't interrupt the player. A man sat in front of the piano crookedly, he had long, dark brown hair, bound together to a curled pony tail. He wore a black sweater and black jeans, which made him look as if he was grieving for someone. _He isn't wearing any black make-up, though. _Kyle grinned at the thought.

Soon, Kyle was entangled with the piece. Even though both hands continued playing fast notes with unchanging speed and pattern, a melody emerged from the low-pitched background. It started out with a somewhat sad theme, then it became happier, going down deeperat first, then rising again. After a theme which seemed as if someone was longing for something he could never reach, the piece repeated the first, sad theme, this time a lot slower and more quietly and went over to the somewhat happy one, still slow but louder. Then, becoming louder, the piece finished with a chord consisting of only 2 notes.

The player let this chord sustain for a few seconds before lifting the pedal. He smiled at Kyle and steadied his posture before he started playing another piece.

It started with some high-pitched, seemingly random notes which lead to an octave – then the left hand kicked in, playing a slow, deep, sad, four-note theme. The melody started soon after, as a light, somewhat sad but hopeful theme. It danced playfully between slow and fast, high and low pitched notes, sometimes as a wonderful harmony, sometimes raising the tension with a disharmony, as it concluded into a deeply moving final theme with the left hand racing up and down the lower part of the keyboard, finishing with a peaceful, quiet chord.

Kyle, awestruck, applauded weakly as the player rose from his chair. "It's yours."

Kyle didn't move until the stranger had packed his sheets and was about to leave. "Wait!" Kyle followed him to the door. "I... What's the name of the last piece?" He asked, still moved by the beauty of it. The man searched in his bag and brought forth a piece of paper, saying 'Corpse Bride: Victor's Piano Solo'.

"It's from this movie. Take it, I can print it whenever I need it."

Kyle took the paper.

"It's fairly easy, there are some inhuman parts, though. Hey, why don't you watch me playing, once again, I think that could help, especially at the really hard parts."

Andwith that, he returned to the piano, followed by Kyle. "Try to follow me on the sheet." He said and started playing.

Once again, the melody entangled the listener, but he forced himself to concentrate on the notes.

_I can't wait to play this..._ He could see why the man had called the difficult parts "inhuman", fortunately there were only a few of them.

"Thank you very much, Mr. ... ?" Kyle asked politely.

"Jan. Just call me Jan." The name sounded foreign, as it was pronounced "Yann" rather than the female, English name. "It's a German name." Jan explained, as he saw Kyle's puzzled expression. "And you are...?"

"I'm Kyle!" He said hastily, after hesitating while thinking of what he just had learned. "So.. you're... from Germany ... ?" He asked uneasily. Jan smiled and winked, as he said "Not all Germans are Nazis, ya know?"

Kyle blushed and looked to the ground. "I'm sorry..."

Jan had just bestowed him with not only a beautiful melody but also the sheet to it, and all he could do was offend the man. "Don't worry about it, Kyle, seriously." He said, grinning.

"I ... didn't mean to offend you..." Kyle knew better than judging people by where they came from.

"I said don't worry!" He laughed, and when Kyle smiled shyly, he patted him on the shoulder.

"What do you think, let's meet here in a week and see if you can play it by then, and if not, I'll help you with it." Kyle's smile widened, but as he thought about ithis features froze.

_Stan will be with Wendy, anyway._

He nodded positively, hoping his expression was still convincing. Fortunately, Jan rose from the chair again and held out his hand. "Until next week then, same time, same place, huh?" Kyle took the hand and shook it. "Yeah, 'til then! Bye!"

After his new friend had left, Kyle took the seat and searched for the first, seemingly random keys. But then he sighed, thinking of Stan. _I wonder what he's doing right now..._


	2. Chapter 2

"Stan..." Wendy wondered what her boyfriend was thinking about, when he stared blankly into space. "Stan...?" Stan was far away – with his thoughts, that is. He was thinking about Kyle, the charming face, encased by that curled, red hair, like a flower by its petals... "Stan!" Wendy became impatient and sounded upset. "H.. Huh? Oh! Sorry... I was ..." _...thinking about Kye, wondering if my best friend could be jealous of you ..._ "I'm sorry, Wendy."

He was half-way through his ice cream, which was about to become more of a drink than a dessert. He liked that, anyway. Wendy had finished hers, though, quite a while ago. "As I was saying," annoyance in her voice, "we should do something different, instead of eating ice cream all the time and ... Well, it's not like I don't like this!" she assured Stan. "No it's really nice, just being together with you, enjoying sweet stuff and just sitting here and talking, with your arm around me, I really like that!" Stan could see where this was going, but he didn't mind. He loved Wendy...

"_It's really good, they even made a movie of it just recently, should be in the movies this month..." _

Kyle's voice echoed in his head. "What would you think about a movie?" Stan smiled.

"A movie? That would be wonderful! But ..." –

"... you don't like those sci fi-action movies and I shouldn't dare to select one of those." He concluded. "Is that about what you wanted to say?"

Wendy hugged him closely. "I love you, Stan." He grinned viciously as he hugged her back. "I love myself, too." She punched him weakly in the side as he broke away.

"It's getting dark – My father will be worried... you know..."

Stan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, parents can be annoying. Well... since you have 'family evening' every Sunday, meaning you have to watch TV with your parents... see ya at school, huh?"

She replied, smiling happily, "Yeah. See ya then."

"You seriously think I won't accompany you to the door?" The boy said and took her hand, walking beside her. She blushed but said nothing until they reached her house. "Bye, Stan. Thanks for today."

He smiled and kissed her lightly. "Bye, Wendy."

On his way home, he wasn't able to focus his thoughts. They kept jumping wildly among all the things he had in mind, Kyle, the fiendish murderer Jean-Baptiste Grenouille from the book Kyle had lent him, Wendy... The moon, which was rising, looked pale, like Kyle's face... No, Kyle's face wasn't pale; he had just a lighter skin tone. It would look like ivory in this light... Suddenly he collided with someone. It wasn't the impact which threw him to the ground, but the shock by which he was forced back into the reality. "Ouch!"

"I'm sorry, I was... Stan?" Kyle laughed at the other boy, who was sitting on the ground and looking up to him unbelievingly.

"Hey, Kyle! Where ... that's not the school, you're coming from, right?" He interviewed, puzzled.

"Well, yes, I was so tremendously bored, I just had to go and rearrange everything in the library."

They laughed at the ridiculous imagination. "No, I mean, seriously now, that's the same direction you came from, yesterday."

Kyle searched his pocket for something, found it, and showed his friend a silvery key. "It opens the school's front door and the door to the piano room. I've been practicing a bit, lately. Is Wendy done with you for now?"

Stan nodded positively and stated smilingly "I'm all yours for the rest of the week."

"You won't go on a date with her tomorrow?"

Stan grinned. "Nope! No dates on Sundays. They call it 'Family Evening'."

Kyle pretended to be sorry for Stan. "Aww, poor lovesick Stan, can't be with your girl for a whole day!"

Stan shrugged and smiled innocently. "Actually, being with you is equally good."

The honesty of the statement surprised Kyle, as he had been joking before, but it felt good.

Back at Kyle's, they started playing Smash Bros. again. When the game started, Kyle found himself in a team with Stan, fighting against two NPCs. "You hate fighting against me. So let's fight together." Stan explained and Kyle smiled. _He knows his best friend, after all._

When the sun had already woken up the morning people in a far-away time zone, the boys decided to go to sleep once more. Once again, Kyle lay awake with a strange feeling somewhere in his chest. There he was, resting close to his best friend. Once again, he realized the beauty of the other boy, the silk, black hair which rested lazily on his cheeks, his scent, which he longed for, he wanted to grab Stan, turn him around, and ...

_Holy shit! _Kyle blushed furiously. He turned around, staring at the ceiling. _What the hell is wrong with me! _Tears filled his eyes, which he fought back. He had never thought about what it was like to be gay. He had joked about it with his friends, yet he never had any prejudices against any gay person. But now he was in love with a boy, his best friend, to be precise, who already had a girlfriend who he loved very much.

He couldn't just go ahead and confess to Stan! Even if Stan was unbiased, a perfect human being, beautiful in body and soul, not even he could just live on, knowing such a thing about his friend, he would always... he would ... never... he would never hug him again, fearing Kyle could misinterpret it as an act of love... he probably wouldn't even sleep over at Kyle's again – he would feel uncomfortable whenever he was near Kyle – eventually, their friendship would crumble, slowly but sooner or later they would only...

Kyle stopped thinking. Sadness overwhelmed him and flushed his eyes with boiling, hot tears, as he cried silently besides the person he was in love with, who would never be his, who would be better off without him...

As Stan rose to rest on his elbow and gently wiped away Kyle's tears, it made him only feel worse. If Stan knew... he wouldn't do that, either. Stan put his hand on the side of his friend, drew him closer and then hugged him tightly, patting the back of his neck. He didn't ask questions. He would just wait until Kyle was ready to talk about whatever was hurting him so badly.

"Stan ..." Stan was shocked by the fear, he thought he could hear in the weak whisper.

"What's the matter, Kye?" It took him a while to steady his voice for an answer.

"Is there... Is there anything... that could ..." He broke into heavy sobbing again. Stan waited patiently. Finally, Kyle felt he was able to finish the question. "Is there anything I could say that would end our friendship?" He asked, staring into Stan's beautiful eyes. He admired the dark, ocean shade of blue and felt as if he was drowning in them. Stan was confused. What was that, say something which could end their friendship? What a stupid thing to even think about...

"You could call Wendy a slut and I'd be angry about it, but you'd never do that, let alone mean it – no, I really don't think there's anything ..."

"And what if I said I was gay…"

Stan chuckled nervously, "Dude, you know I wouldn't stop being your friend if you were like that, but-"

"What if I was gay for you? What if I said I loved you?"

Kyle's jade eyes seemed to pierce through Stan's head. That was no joke. He instinctively moved away from Kyle. What... was this feeling... He could clearly see the pain in Kyle's features. He ignored it, though. He couldn't think. Had to find out what ...

He suddenly couldn't bear Kyle's stare any longer and turned around. "I..." His throat seemed to burn, he felt as if he had just swallowed a saw blade, as if Kyle had shoved a saw blade down histhroat.

"...Stan...?" He couldn't think for himself right now. He fell into a trance, unable to comprehend what was going on, right now. _Out. _He got out of the bed. _Out_. He collected his stuff from the floor and dressed. _Out_. Without any further words or even views in the direction of his best friend, he left the room. _Out_. Went down the stairs. _Out_. Out of the house. _Out. Fuck._

He returned home mechanically. He slipped into his room and laid down onto the bed like a machine, programmed to shut down for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

_I knew this was gonna happen. I knew it. This is it. Fuck, no. Stan. FUCK, NO! STAN! F... What... What am I gonna do now? What the hell am I gonna do now?! Stan. Stan! How could y.. How could I do this! It's my fault. I knew this was gonna happen._

Kyle's thoughts twisted, and so did his room, at least he felt like it did. Slowly, his mind calmed down, the voice that kept repeating the same meaningless words and phrases went silent, and his room steadied, reattaching itself to the Broflovskis' house again.

_Slowly, Kyle. Sort this out. Little by little. What has just happened? _Stan had been shocked. He had been repulsed by Kyle's feeling towards him. _He hates me now. _

He let this sink in for a few seconds. He had just lost his friend. Well, it was worth a shot. He just had to move on. It was fun as long as it lasted. He had a great time with Stan. Great ... How many years? Eight? Ten? He couldn't remember a time without Stan. He couldn't imagine a world without him. _Stan ... For fuck's sake...Don't leave me alone..._

The next day went past Stan without any thought of what had happened back at Kyle's. He got up and ate his cereal. He knew there was a Terence & Phillip marathon on TV today and he somehow managed to stare into Kyle's book with neither reading nor thinking of his friend until the show started. He then just sat, or rather laid in front of the TV watching the two Canadians fart at each others' faces for the amusement of the audience. Nothing of the show stayed in his head longer than a few seconds, though.

Kyle, thankfully being still alone for half of the day, had spent most of the night crying or staring at the ceiling. When he was completely out of tears, he had gladly slipped away into the pitch black, welcoming darkness of sleep, dreaming of course of nothing but Stan. Fortunately, he woke up just before the rest of his family arrived – It was unusual for him to sleep in and it would have resulted in unpleasant questions.

When Ike and his parents returned, he put on a happy face and played his role fairly well. It worked nicely on the adults, his little brother, though, seemed to notice the act and sent him worried looks whenever they were in the same room. At the evening, Kyle fell into his bed, mentally exhausted from his performance. As Ike entered, he sighed. "Kyle, what's the matter?"

"Noth..."

"Yeah sure." He was a genius after all. He stepped closer to Kyle.

"Shouldn't you be in bed already?"

Ike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, but since you're obviously troubled by something, I was worried, and so ..."

Kyle patted his little brother on the head. "It's nothing, Ike, really."

The small boy glared at him angrily. "I want to help you, Kyle, at least tell me what happened!"

Kyle turned on his back, staring at the ceiling again. "I... I can't, Ike. I ... Maybe I will, but not now... Thanks anyway."

Ike sighed and shook his head. "Ok then. But don't forget I'm here for you!" And by that, he left the room and closed the door.

The next day, he woke up, when someone shouted "What, what, WHAT ?!" in a high-pitched voice.

"You are late to school, Kyle, you're in trouble, mister!" Kyle shot up. "I... I forgot to set up the alarm ...!" He rushed out of the bed and dressed, brushed his teeth and ran off to the bus stop. On his way he remembered Stan. He'd be there, too. He was afraid to see him. He was afraid that he would start crying like a baby, once he spotted Stan's cute face maybe shooting a glare in his direction, then turning his back on him. The imagination was enough to draw out tears, but he fought them back.

When he arrived at the bus stop, he could only see the back lights of the bus. He had missed it. For once in the last couple of years, he would be late for school.

Stan had waited at the bus stop just like every day. When Kenny said hi, he had waved absently, staring blankly into space. When Cartman joked about Kyle missing the bus, he had smiled mechanically.

Now he was sitting in the bus. He had, for the first time in years, a seat at the window. He had reserved this seat for Kyle for the last few years. Had Kyle been there, he would be sitting here, now. _No he wouldn't. Not after how I treated him like scum which is not even worth talking to. _He was still unable to think any further, so he took out his iPod and listened to some music. He changed the band after a minute or two. The next one didn't please him, either, so he changed it again. Through the whole bus drive, he didn't listen to a song for any longer than two minutes but he didn't really notice. When they arrived at the school, he put the iPod away.

Both Stan and Kyle felt empty and unable to focus, in their studies. Kyle had been excused for coming late, since it was the first time in his life. When he had walked to school, he had come to the conclusion, he'd rather not see Stan today. He knew he couldn't bear to have Stan glare at him with disgust, ormaybe, even worse, ignore him completely. Therefore he didn't take the seat he usually did during lunch break.

Stan kept avoiding the thought of Kyle and what had happened. He kept his mind busy with random thoughts – _Math truly sucks. Equations are really hard... Wendy's good at this kind of stuff. _Here he came close to Kyle, since he was his favorite help when it came to homework. _Oh, I have to make a reservation for the movie..._ Again, he tried to avoid thinking about Kyle, who had told him about the movie he was going to see with Wendy. _Finally, the theater has__a website of their own. What was it again... You can reserve the really good seats there..._

When the last class ended, Stan immediately returned home. He had tons of studying to do... And he had to go to that website, making a reservation for the movie. Everything would be perfect for Wendy... Kyle, on the other hand, didn't leave. He went to the piano room, took out 'Victor's Piano Solo' and began, playing the first few, seemingly random notes. He then repeated the theme of the left hand several times but got bored pretty fast and went on to the next measures. He played through the piece with one hand, slow and not without mistakes, glad to be able to concentrate on something, so he didn't have to think of Stan.

He spent about two hours with the piece Jan had given him, and was able to play the easier parts with the left and right hand separately fairly well, though slow. Pleased with himself, he left and went home. On his way, his thoughts wandered to Stan again. He wondered how long he would be able to live in this world without his best friend to help him. He knew, Stan would be ok, maybe even better off without an annoying Jew to gross him out.

He didn't think of suicide, Hell, no, but if he was without Stan for too long, he would sooner or later lose his emotions. He knew this kind of thing could happen, people could turn into cold, lifeless beings with a complete lack of emotions, he knew his teachers, to start with. He tried to think of it as a scientific experiment: How long can an emotional person feel completely lonely until his soul crumbles and leaves?

He cast that thought away. Thinking about it would alter the experiment's result. _Fuck. I'm fucked up. I'm completely fucked up. _He grinned grimly, hot tears running down his cheeks, and began running. The air cooled his burning cheeks and he breathed heavily, inhaling the freezing gas deeply. It numbed the pain in his throat, and the exhaustion numbed the one in his heart. He ran to nowhere in particular, just ran wherever his feet wanted.

_Perfect_. Stan had found the perfect seats in the show room to not be reserved yet, and with a few clicks they were his, reservation on the name "Marsh". "Please make sure to collect your tickets at least 30 minutes before the movie starts, otherwise they will be sold." _Yeah I know._ On Saturday he and Wendy would watch this movie, The Perfume – _Ah, and there's the book, I still have to read it ..._

Kyle had passed several familiar houses. He had sped by Wendy's, trying to not think about the girl who had taken his rightful place in his best friend's life. _No, wait. I'm trying to take hers. _The thought didn't make it any better, though. He had rushed past Stan's house and the view of the building that kept the person he loved warm and safe made him run even faster. When he arrived at his house, his feet carried him past it. _Just run._ It was like a drug. He flew along the streets, just randomly turning left or right.

When he left the town, he didn't stop. Didn't want to. Didn't care. He ran up the hill where Jimbo had taken them hunting. He remembered, how adorable Stan looked, when he couldn't shoot the rabbit. After what seemed like about two and a half eternities he tripped and fell into the soft snow. When his face had melted itself into the icy pillow, he turned around, exhausted. He was surrounded by trees and he had completely lost the will to move. Suddenly, the world around him started spinning again and his eye lids felt as if they were made of lead, so he closed them.

Pictures danced before his eyes, mostly random colors but he thought he could make out Stan's face between them. He was smiling at him, reaching for him with both his arms pointing towards Kyle, but even though he tried to get closer to his best friend, he seemed to move away. _Kyle_ ... He seemed to call for him. _Kyle...! _Everything was dark except for Stan. His eyes glowed like stars, he was surrounded by stars, his voice sounded like everything to Kyle. "Kyle!" No. Wait. His voice _was_ everything, at least more than one thing. His eyes widened in panic as he realized Stan's eyes _were_ stars and it was night and the voices were probably people searching the forest for him.

_Aw.. Awwww! _He was fucked. Totally screwed. He had passed out and now everyone was searching for him and his mother was gonna yell at him and he would have to explain everything and ... "Shit!"

"What, what, WHAT?!" _Christ._ "Nah, not exactly. Just me. You are grounded, mister!" Stan! Thank God it was Stan who found him and not his mom. In the last sentence he had imitated Butters' mom. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! I was like.. I .. I thought you were dead!" Stan stuttered in a weak voice. Kyle smiled. "You were even able to pull off two jokes before getting serious." he said, staring on the snow he was sitting on. "Are you ... ok?" Stan had appeared out of the forest from behind. Kyle turned around to look at him again. "Yeah. I ... kinda ... ran off to get rid of my problems ... Probably a bad idea. Maybe I passed out because I haven't eaten since lunch break."

They stared at each other for a while, until Stan broke the awkward silence. "I better call the others..." Kyle nodded and looked away.

"Yeah..." Soon the place was filled with people, some with relief in their faces, others with anger. Unfortunately, but not entirely unexpectedly, his mom was part of the latter ones.

"Kyle, what do you think you were doing, ..." Just as she had spotted her son and couldn't find any noticeable injuries on him, she began talking. And she didn't stop until Kyle was home, had eaten the already cold dinner, brushed his teeth and went to bed. Fortunately, every time she would ask for motives, she would just continue, either answering the question all by herself or completely ignoring it.

"Mom, I'm really, really sorry, I wasn't thinking... Please, I won't do it again, I promise! I have to practice this new piece and ..." Sheila's expression softened. She was proud of her son, who had just recently started to play piano again, all by himself. "... am I grounded?" Surely, she could let him go unpunished, but then again ... "Alright, you can still go and practice whenever you want, but I don't want to see you doing anything besides that for the rest of the week!" What a mild punishment! Kyle was surprised on how well his attempt to calm down the anger in his mother had worked. "Thanks a lot, mom, you're the best! Good night!"

_Wow... this went rather nicely. _Even though he was relieved to find himself still able to play piano after what he had pulled off, he sighed heavily, once Sheila had left the room and closed the door. Stan still did care about him, somehow. Maybe there was hope for their friendship... But then again, that awkward silence... He had never felt such a heavy atmosphere between him and Stan. Maybe he should just stay away from Stan as long as it took him to forget what Kyle had confessed to him. _If I can make it through that time, that is._

When Stan had learned that Kyle was nowhere to be found since school and realized he couldn't even tell if he had been there at all, he nearly fainted. In fact, he was in his room, standing right before his dad, when he told him. He stared at Randy a few seconds until the message sunk in and he had put the pieces together – Kyle's absence in the school bus, during lunch break, and now this... The shock struck him with brutal force, he felt sea sick, tumbled backwards against his bed and fell on it. He stared to the ceiling with a complete lack of blood in his face.

His subconscious shot pictures at him like a slide show, one more nightmarish than the other. He saw Kyle with a stranger in a ruinous shack, unconscious, with blood coming from his mouth and the man grinning, madness pouring out of his expression. He saw him floating in Stark's pond, faced down, pale, half opened eyes and mouth. He saw him with a sharp, bloody knife, after he had cut open the arteries in his wrists, sitting in an inhumanly large puddle of blood. He saw him grinning at him hopelessly, heard him saying "Goodbye, Stan...", then slowly moving the large knife towards his throat... "Oh, dear God, NO!"

Once he had found Kyle unharmed, though, he remembered what happened between them. He knew how uncomfortable Kyle felt with only him around, so he suggested calling the others pretty fast. When Sheila began one of her insane curtain-lectures, he swiftly vanished between the people and returned home, somewhat relieved but sad.

Now he was lying on his bed, listening to some music which didn't matter and read about how Grenouille, the child prodigy, mixed 'Armore and Psyche', the perfume which would convince Maître Baldini to buy the boy from the tanner and how Baldini surrendered to the sheer perfection of the product. He got tired, put the book aside, turned off the light and slid into a dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

He still avoided thinking about Kyle and the other boy still avoided him. Kyle had set his alarm clock earlier so he could walk to school. In class, he had returned to his former self, always being able to at least say something on a topic, and most likely answering the question to the full extent. Stan, too, went through his classes like before, uninterested and doodling. "Mr. Marsh, would you please pay attention!" was something he heard a lot, "I'm sorry." was something, he said a lot.

During lunch break, he would catch himself staring at the door, hoping to see Kyle – who would use the other entrance, which was not in the line of sight from Stan's usual place. "Seems like the fags had a fight!" Cartman kept joking, and Kenny kept laughing about the same old jokes Stan had to endure over and over again. "Shut up, fat ass." he would snap, as he had given up thinking of explanations.

The constant avoiding, thoughts in Stan's case, the other boy at Kyle's, kept going on but grew more and more unbearable to both of them. Kenny showed his concern as he took Stan aside while Cartman was busy picking on Butters. "Stan, what in the world has happened between you and Kyle?" Stan's view moved to the ground as he snapped "Nothing."

Kenny sighed. "Don't even try." He glared angrily at the black haired boy.

"It's ... none of your concern."

"Stan. You and Kyle, you have been together ever since ... like…kindergarten and both of you are my friends, so this is, in fact, quite much of my concern. Since I can't seem to get hold of Kyle, I'll have to torture you until you tell me what the fuck's going on."

Stan felt uncomfortable. "Listen, Kenny, I need to sort this out m..."

"And as your friend, I can help you with it." He paused. "That's what friends are about, right?"

Stan looked up to Kenny, who smiled and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Thanks Kenny, but I... I have to think about it a little. Maybe ... Maybe you've already helped me with it."

Stan turned around and went home, leaving the blond behind, puzzled. He had been waiting for the bus with the others, but decided to walk. More time to think. He needed to think. He needed to stop evading those thoughts, he needed to make up his mind. He thought about how he had nearly lost his friend just yesterday and came to the conclusion, he'd better sort this out quickly. He knew this was his fault. He knew ... then his cell phone vibrated. He reached for it. He wasn't in the mood to talk, he had to think!

However, when he saw the name "Wendy" flashing on the display, he once again cast away the depressing thoughts. "Hey, Wendy!" he greeted, not without a certain happiness. "Hey Stan! I thought we could... you know..."

"Go to Raisins?" Stan knew Wendy hated that restaurant.

"Yeah sure, why not, and before that, we could cut your balls off!" Wendy stated in a matter-of-fact like voice. Since Stan liked his testicles, he agreed to not mention the place anymore. "Well, where do you wanna go? I'll take you anywhere!" Stan regretted that at once.

"What about the art museum? It's been ages since I've been there! Oh, I can't even remember any of the pictures!"

Stan pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes tightly. There was no way out of it, now. "Yeah, sure, why not?" He pretended to be happy. At least, Wendy would be happy. And so he met her at the entrance of the large building and began what he knew would be a boring trip through hell which would only be bearable because his girlfriend was close.

Kyle was sitting at the piano, again. He altered practicing the hard parts with one hand at a time and the easier ones with both hands. The piece was truly beautiful. He thought of that guy from Germany. He wanted to be able to play that piece before he met him again. But then again, what good was his talent, if he had no one to show it to. Even though he knew Stan wasn't interested in that kind of music, he had hoped to impress him a bit, maybe even get him to like the music. But he refused to give up the hope, even though it might alter the experiment's result. He chuckled a bit at the thought of his breakdown the other day and, once again, started playing the random notes.

The next few days would be the same for Kyle. He would walk to school, manage his classes, play piano, finish his studies, maybe watch TV or read a good book for a while, then go to bed early, since he had to walk to school the next day.

Stan had started thinking. Oh, how he thought! However, he didn't reach a conclusion. This was not surprising, since he always thought about Kyle. How he was feeling right now, how he could mend their shattered friendship, what he would tell him, once he got the chance to talk to him alone ... He approached the problem from the wrong side and didn't realize it.

Finally, the day came, when he would take Wendy to the movie. They were at the same place they frequently visited lately: they were eating ice cream at their favorite restaurant. It was about an hour to the movie, and Stan was excited to know if it was any good. Kyle would like to know too...

"Stanley, what in the world are you zoning out for all the time? Just now, you were staring blankly into space again!" Stan considered telling her what was bugging him lately, but decided to go for a "Sorry".

"What's going on with you recently? You seem so unsure, as if you don't even know about your own feelings anymore! Do you ... think about your feelings?" Stan was astonished. _His_ feelings? "Stan, what makes you so confused? Is this about ... Kyle?" Sure, it was about Kyle, he was thinking about Kyle all the time. His feelings? Why his? "Stan, you know, women can feel things." He nodded absently. _His_ feelings... She prepared herself to ask the question which had been bothering her over the last week. "Stan ... Do you still love me?"

Stan looked up and right into her brown eyes. But slowly, they changed their color, as if grass would grow on the earth, covering it with a green blanket. Her face suddenly became beautifully boyish, as her long, black hair changed into red curls... Stan was shocked, his face went pale... "No way..." Wendy closed her eyes, a tear escaped them, as she realized she had lost her boyfriend forever.

Stan felt pushed backwards onto his chair. He didn't love Wendy. "No fuckin' way..." This feeling, after Kyle had confessed... He just couldn't grasp its meaning. But now, clear as day... his confusion, the avoiding of the thoughts, his shock... "Kyle..." he whispered. Everything fit together in a perfect harmony, creating the melody he used to hear when he thought about Wendy... The melody...

He suddenly jumped up and ran off, leaving Wendy alone. She started sobbing, but she knew, no one was to be blamed for her sadness. _That's just the way it goes..._

He ran all the way back to school, where he had come from just hours ago. How could Kyle ever forgive his stupidity...? He reached the school and as he pushed against the door to see if it's open, his heart skipped a beat – the door didn't move a bit. "Pull" the sign at the handle read. So he pulled and the door opened. He ran through the corridors, uncertain where this piano room was, as he heard a melody, quiet but clearly audible, sad, but hopeful. He followed his ears until he reached an open door.

He slipped inside unnoticed by the player and the man sitting next to him. Again, his heart skipped a beat, as he saw his best friend's dainty fingers move dexterously along the keys. When Kyle played the finishing chord, he wanted to clap, but was interrupted by the man. "Really good Kyle, you managed to perfect the piece in one week, that's pretty amazing! Do you think, you're ready to put some more emotion in it?" Kyle nodded, steadied his posture, closed his eyes for a second and put his fingers on the keyboard, searching for the first keys to press.

He took a deep breath, and started with what seemed like random notes which concluded in a simple chord. As the left hand kicked in, he closed his eyes, gently giving life to the black dots which rested on thin lines on the paper. He let the melody under his fingers flush out his own feelings, and, as sadness overwhelmed him, the melody filled the room with an air of awe, as if some royal figure had just entered the scene.

Slowly the volume of Kyle's play rose, as did the temperament of the melody, and a tear ran down his heated cheeks, and just in the same moment, Stan was moved to tears, as well. When the piece reached it's moving climax, Stan had completely lost control over the torrents his eyes had turned into, and as Kyle brought the piece to an end with a chord which sounded in a noise as moving as a sunrise after a stormy night, he left his seat in the back and walked towards the piano, in a trance like the one that had lead to this week of loneliness for both of them.

All the time he had the book in his hands, he had taken it with him to school to read during lunch break. When Kyle saw his former best friend, he wiped away his tear quickly, but then he saw the wet streams on Stan's face... "Kyle ..." The weak, whiny voice was totally untypical for the manly athlete. "...I ... wanted to return that book to you ..." Confused, he took "The Perfume" from Stan as two long pieces of paper fell out. "Oh ... The movie tickets, seems like I forgot them in there... I guess they're yours now." Stan managed to smile, he was still deeply moved by Kyle's performance.

"Would you like to take me with you?"

Kyle's confusion didn't seem to decrease. He stared at the pieces of paper he had just picked up. They read "The Perfume – Story of a Murderer; Begin: 6:00 pm Seat ..."

"Kyle, I'm…so…so sorry that I just left without saying anything that day. I was confused... I was shocked, but not by your confession, but... I... felt... I had a strange feeling after you confessed. I just couldn't understand it. It was... a weird ... tickle in my stomach, and just ... just minutes ago I realized..." He trailed off. This was really hard. Really fucking hard.

He swallowed hard and continued. "Kyle Broflovski, Kye, my best friend, I can't ... I just can't live without you." As Stan's statement sank in, Kyle fell onto the chair he'd been sitting on before. Relief spoke out of his face and voice, as he said "Neither can I... live without you, I mean..." Stan looked into the beautiful jade eyes of his friend. He immediately was entangled by the view, just as he had been with the piece before. "I know Kyle, and that's why I have to apologize. I must have hurt you more than a best friend ever should... you must be so angry..." He approached the boy. "You must have felt terrible, and it's all my fault..."

The regret in his voice was too much for Kyle. "It's ok Stan, forget about it, you're back, that's all that counts!"

But Stan wasn't finished. "Kyle, let's watch this movie together. I'm nearly through with the book and I..."

"What about Wendy? Those tickets are for you and her."

Stan smiled. "We broke up."

Kyle's face changed into an expression of shock. "WHAT? Why? What did you do?"

The charcoal haired boy shrugged. "I don't love her anymore..."

"Did she say that?" –

"Well, yeah, but it's true, that's one of the things I realized today."

"So you're single again, huh?"

Stan decided to go for the straight, honest answer. "No…I have a boyfriend, now." he said in a matter-of-fact kind of voice. If Kyle had been confused before, Hell, then he was fucked up right now. He didn't know what to think, what to feel, just how to understand what Stan had just said. But Stan stopped Kyle's misery quickly, by pressing a gentle kiss on his lips.

Fortunately, the man had left the room before, knowing they would want to be alone, because otherwise he would have been way too ashamed to say what he had to. "Kye, you're probably the only sane person in all of South Park, and, for fuck's sake, I love you, I fuckin' love you, dude."

Kyle tried to say something, but no sound escaped his mouth. Overwhelmed by his luck, he didn't struggle as he felt lifted to his feet. Stan's arms where under his and, without breaking eye contact, he pulled his friend up to face him. Kyle had barely managed to stand. He felt something warm on his lips again, longer this time, with more passion, and the warmth spread from his lips and moved down to his heart, from where it reanimated his entire body.

Stan's tears mixed with Kyle's, and the red haired boy put his arms around that angel before him and pressed the boy's body against his own, squeezing the air out of both their lungs. He kept pressing as their kiss broke and started sobbing heavily, burying his face in the cloth on Stan's shoulder. Slowly, he calmed down, and Stan waited patiently until his freshly declared boyfriend faced him smiling happily. "Play it again." Stan begged, as he brushed the tears of the boy's cheeks.

Kyle sat down in front of the large, black instrument, and started playing again. This time, even though the melody was the same sad and hopeful one like before, the piece made their hearts beat with joy. Stan sat down next to Kyle and put his arm around his friend. As the final chord hung lightly in the air, Kyle rested his head against Stan's shoulder and Stan planted his cheek on the soft, silky, red curls.

Kyle suddenly chuckled. "What are you laughing about?" Stan asked, as the chord ceased.

"I had an incredibly schmaltzy thought here..." Stan grinned. Kyle had skills as a poet, and he was curious, what he was thinking of. "Tell me."

"No way, it's horrible!"

"Tell me anyway!"

Kyle coughed slightly, suppressed his laughter, but started chuckling again. "Ok." He said. "I just thought ... Well..." Another chuckle interrupted him. "Our love... hehe... is like this chord."

"The perfect harmony."

**The end.**

* * *

**Author's note: **Thanks for your help with making the language more user friendly, Jake, and thanks for everything, .MeloniousXx, your motivation, beta reading, helping me find synonyms and all that! I wouldn't even have started writing without you, you made it possible, to start with!

Also **thank you all for your reviews**, I loved them, it feels great to know you guys actually like what I wrote! Please continue to write reviews!

Over the past couple of ...years? people have continued to favourite the story and I can't tell you how good this feels! So I want to use this opportunity to also thank everyone who put it in their favourites, which generates an email to me. I will never mark those as spam, I love you guys!


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